Next LCS, JHSV names announced, but not by Navy

Apr. 11, 2013 - 02:16PM
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Senators announced Navy plans for three future ship names Thursday, but the service has yet to confirm any of them.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a news release that an upcoming littoral combat ship will be named after the city of Manchester. The release did not say which future LCS hull would bear the name, but that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had personally informed Shaheen of the decision via phone on Thursday morning.

The cruiser Manchester served in the fleet from 1946 to 1960, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command website, making three deployments to support Korean War efforts.

Another LCS will carry the name Wichita, according to a Thursday news release from Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas. It’ll be the third ship to carry the city’s name: The first, a heavy cruiser, served throughout World War II, while the second, a fleet oiler, was decommissioned in 1993, according to the history command.

Similarly, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., praised the Navy on Thursday for plans to a new joint high speed vessel after his state’s capital, Trenton.

The Navy’s had three previous Trentons, according to the history command’s website, with the most recent, an amphibious transport dock, decommissioned in January 2007. The yet-to-be-commissioned USNS Trenton will be operated by Military Sealift Command.

A spokeswoman for Mabus could not immediately be reached for comment.

Unlike previous names that proved controversial, these fall in line with established naming conventions for their respective ship classes. LCSs are to be named after “regionally important American cities and counties,” according to a ship-naming report recently issued by the Navy, while JHSVs are to carry the names of “small American cities and counties.”